RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is a distance vector routing protocol that uses hop count as the metric, with a maximum of 15 hops and updates every 30 seconds. It operates as a classful protocol, lacking support for Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM), and has two versions: version 1 and version 2, the latter supporting classless routing and route summarization. The administrative distance for RIP is set at 120.